1967 Chevy Chevelle SS - Timeline Memory Machine

John Lyons decides to keep this 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle in original trim

The timeline of muscle cars in the life of John Lyons fishtails with tires smoking all the way back to when his interests shifted from bicycles and green plastic army men to the meanest and fastest machines getting kicked out from Motor City. A 1967 396 Chevelle with a 4-speed rolled back into John's life to take a recent and rightful place in the timeline as it continues on. The car stands today as stock Chevrolet muscle captured at the moment of final production and will remain as a preserved example of the way the factory intended it to be.

The year 1967 was when Sam and Dave's "Soul Man" crackled out of the speakers of solid-state transistor radios across the land. This was also the year the right build information made its way down to the assembly line and a 396 with a four-speed was installed into the body of a Chevelle that would eventually find its way to John. Unlike a great number of the Chevelles that rolled off the line so equipped in '67, this one happened to fall into the hands of a single owner who kept it in original trim throughout its life. While countless other Chevelles were raced, hacked up, or wrecked into oblivion, this one stood stock even as Sam and Dave made way for the hi-fi hits that followed.

3/13

John's interest in Detroit iron began in the early '70s while working for his father, who worked in the automotive salvage end of the insurance business. As a result, John repeatedly witnessed firsthand the end run of horsepower-a-plenty and inexperience combined with '60s-era suspension and brake designs. Muscle cars running though the salvage facility ranged from almost new and wrecked, to driven hard--to the demise of the car, and often times the driver. Seeing these cars up close in his early teens was merely part of the beginning of John's continuing admiration and respect for the Detroit heavies.

On the garage wall at his boyhood home hung the headers for various engines on the floor below. Speed and stock parts alike filled any remaining garage space, all of it waiting patiently for install on one of the long line of big-blocks and muscle cars that always graced the Lyons' driveway. Before John or his brothers could even drive they got to ride in some now legendary machines. John's dad called a '69 Charger R/T his throne. While Mopar reigned in dad's kingdom, it was Mom who rowed through the gears Pontiac style, behind the wheel of her '66 GTO 4-speed. Both cars were sold before John and his brothers were old enough to drive, but the mold for the future mayhem had been poured and set.

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John's brother was a drag nut early on. It was he who drove the family tradition of muscle cars from the garage right on out to New England Dragway. A '70 Buick Gran Sport and a '67 Chevrolet Corvette were but a few of the cars in the family that hit the strip.

John got out to the races whenever he could, but enjoyed driving off track more than his sibling. Street racing was there for the taking but never played heavy in his travels. Muscle cars did. The year 1976 had a then 17-year-old John rolling in a Marina Blue Chevelle 4-speed that packed a 396 and was given the warm-over by his drag racing brother. John eventually sold the car, but not before the Chevelle etched itself into his memory as a daily driver with an extra helping of big-block soul.

Muscle cars owners have always bragged about how much horsepower their prized car made, so we decided to run some muscle cars on our modern car dyno to see how they compare with one another. Only at www.superchevy.com, the official website for Super Chevy Magazine. » Read More